High Sierra Topix

I have the First Need, supposidly removes viruses and radiation, cool huh?
last time I used it was at Mt W Trail Camp as I filtered water I could see noodles, vegetables etc on the bottom of the lake.
Most of the time I just boil or dont worry too much about it.

Ridgeline- ......and the noodles and vegetables you could see were the nice things--eeewww. That's one place where I would NEVER drink the water unfiltered. The rest of the time, it depends where I am.

There does seem to be a U.S. retailer for "Klearwater:" http://www.arequip.com/Products/Klearwater.htm. Haven't tried it, but it looks fast, anyway. Probably not the best power:weight ratio (because it's a liquid), but it sounds like it's worth checking out...

My latest update: yeah, my Sweetwater finally failed too...on my 9-day Silver Divide trip in August. On only the 2nd day of the trip I finally gave up on it and just drank unfiltered water. As it turns out, what a liberation!! No problems.
What I did do for my next couple trips, including 7-day trip to Tehipite, was pick up the $30 Katadyn Ex-Stream that is the filter-in-the-bottle. This is good for re-watering on the trail and just trucking on. I carry a couple empty Arrowhead water bottles (12oz) and can just fill those up with unfiltered water to put in the Ex-Stream if its going to be a while to the next water. We had one particularly bad/muddy source (the water was BROWN! :retard: ) but the Ex-Stream filtered it fine. For cooking at camp I just use clear unfiltered water since I figure it's getting boiled anyway. This lite-weight system has worked great for me so far.
I had the Sweetwater for 5 years and had no problem. Its probable one of the gaskets probably just finally gave out, since water leakage is the problem (more water squirts out the top than gets pumped into the bottle). There is a replacement set of gaskets/parts that I have seen at REI that went $20 or so, I could probably get this and fix it (and might yet), but at this juncture I figure whats the point.
On the Tehipite we had a Basecamp filter in the group and it worked great. Took about 60 seconds or so to fill up a 12oz bottle. However this seems to only be a viable option for a group of a couple people or more and when you are going to remain at a camp for a little while. It sure was convenient however.

I bought the gasket kit for my Sweetwater a few years ago (after experiencing massive leakage problems like Krudler), and it worked like a charm. I bought the Sweetwater so long ago I can't even remember, and I've been through at least two replacement filter cartridges. The main thing I like about filters over tablets is that I can get truly COLD water, reminiscent of when one just carried a Sierra cup on the belt and scooped out of the stream on the way across. The next time I really need to keep the weight down, I think I'll try chemicals again, though: there's just no comparison for weight.

Although I've never had Giardia, I did go through the treatment several years ago when I had unspecified stomach difficulties. Ugh! Definitely not interested in doing that again -- nothing tasted right for weeks, it seemed. So, though Giardia may be a fairly remote possibility, I'm still treating my water for now...

I use a modified gravity flow filter. It weighs a couple ounces less than the PUR pump filter and works great. Just get a Katadyn gravity filter, pull out the filter and replace with one from OSH (better flow), you'll need two tubes, one slightly larger than the one fixed to the filter. I use the Platypus water bags (1oz for liter bags). You'll need the "L" cap for filtering for better flow. Just suck as much air as you can out of both the gravity bag and the platypus bottle before connecting the tube. Less air means faster flow. You'll also need a couple of bolt caps. They are the rubber nipple-looking caps for bolts. These go over the tube connected to the filter as you fill the bag in the water. Then remove (obviously) when attaching you tube for filling bags. Bring a couple extra as they sometimes are hard to find in the wilderness if dropped.
Great article, I have been debating going filterless for the last year.
The idea for the modified filter is a friend of mine's, James Kliewar. Great guy, very innovative and loves to backpack super light.

PS - I forgot to tell you, I get about a liter of water every five minutes without any work!!